Ebrahim Bushehri, CEO, Lime Microsystems

Today's Radio Access Network is based on proprietary chipsets and the whole design is closed and only serviceable by a few suppliers. Lime wants to change this by commoditising the RAN, allowing many more companies to contribute to the ecosystem. The company has the support of BT/EE from the UK, working together to attract developers. Its platform allows linux software programmability on both the RF and baseband sides, allowing applications to be written. These could be essential apps, such as the LTE stack, or customised apps for specific given use cases. The platform is in line with the network slicing concept for 5G, improving the slicing capabilities in both the core and at the edge of the network.